


A Knife in the Dark

by bravevesperian



Series: A Knife in the Dark [ with expanded additions ] [1]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Bathroom Sex, M/M, Masochism, Master/Servant, Sadism, Sadomasochism, Softcore Porn, and I love them for it., me stubbornly using their English localization names, the only way this relationship happened was with a repressed young prince thinking with his dick tbh, the very slightest canon deviation if you squint at circumstances of Niles appearing.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-17 09:16:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14185755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bravevesperian/pseuds/bravevesperian
Summary: Leo can't seem to measure up to his elder siblings even at his most ruthless. If only there was someone in his corner, someone who could be his knife in the dark...An exploration of how Leo and Niles met and just how abnormal it really was-- and just how perfectly predictable it was, as well.





	1. Bedroom Hymns

**Author's Note:**

> After ages of loving and analyzing the relationship between these two (and Odin, who will appear eventually,) I came to a singular conclusion. A relationship like theirs could only be forged by a dark and ill-advised love at first sight (on Niles' end) and dark fascination born in part out of struggles with self-worth underneath Leo's confident facade. They were exactly who each other needed at the moment that they met, and that would forge a bond unbreakable. 
> 
> My take is inspired slightly by my own experiences in the sense that sometimes, the things people call unrealistic or scream "That would never happen in real life!" are the most realistic of all. If there's anything I've learned, its that the importance and strength of a relationship have nothing to do with the time spent in it. Sometimes, those little sparks that people call new relationship energy or a sure to end honeymoon phase never end, or last for years and years. 
> 
> This story is an ode to that, to the ways that we can love deeply and full of awe and terror even where love seems to have its work cut out for it.

As a prince, there were always things that Leo expected and knew he must be prepared for. The red tape and the bureaucracy were easy enough to deal with. He learned to cut his path with sharp words and a deadly tongue that could weave spells of darkness at an early age. But there were things that no training or strategizing could prepare him for. He had come from a boy lifted upon his father's shoulders and into this young man, currently worn thin with the smoke and dirt of battle still clinging to his pallid complexion. 

"You were ordered to kill them all." His father's voice was familiar, but it brought no comfort. He feared that his iron grip on his composure might slip and they would all hear him shaking as his plate mail rattled. 

"The insurrection, yes! There was no specification about the women and children--" Leo had tried to explain himself clearly, as shrewdly as he ever had. Unfortunately, it came out from him wavering a bit, as if the words came from underwater. 

His first mission unsupervised since coming of age-- and he managed to yet again not live up to his father's standards. He was not ruthless enough, not as commanding as Xander, as he _should've_ been. All in all, he had thought all of that simply to be the lot of being the youngest, but he was still captive to his father's whims, as everyone in Nohr was. Leo's impeccable face for dealing with crises was perhaps the only thing that kept him upright, standing with the handful of men his father had sent with him as support. 

"Survivors create more insurrections, Prince Leo." Garon's voice chilled him to the bone, and he remembered suddenly-- _vividly_ the stench of death and the massacre that he had had to enact. His stomach clenched and he swallowed back burning bile, though there was no hiding how pale he'd gone. 

"A mistake... I will not make again, your majesty." He offered dejectedly, head hung to acquiesce his father's demands. 

"We shall see."

It was merciful for king Garon to decide to confine him to their family home until he decided how best to teach his errant son a lesson. He at least had the comfort of his own space: something in and of itself that he often felt was hard-won. 

After a bath and finally returning to his private room, Leo collapsed onto his bed and pulled the surrounding curtains tight, willing his head to stop spinning. The presence of his books, the smell of old pages that sparked with magic when held in the right hands brought him comfort, and after the long and dismal trudge from one of his first battlefields home, Leo found himself in a deep and blessedly dreamless sleep. 

Morning brought him little relief, and the filtered sunlight of Windmire surely did not. Leo rose and dressed in a bit of a haze, sloppy even in his casual clothes, it seemed. He pulled the bell to call for breakfast and slumped into his chair at the table in his room. It had been many years now since he had been able to lower his guard with his father, and he learned day in and day out why it was wise not to any longer. He remembered a charming and funny man from his early days, but he was no more. Or perhaps-- he had seen his father through the eyes of a son, and the man he thought existed had always been an illusion and little more. 

Leo preferred to pursue the finer arts-- strategy and magic. His siblings won their father's approval with their brutish shows of strength, though little Elise was more like he was-- Camilla and Xander's accomplishments were not just accolades, but armor that kept them safe from king Garon's violent moods and punishment of all things he considered to be weakness. 

He stepped in front of the mirror to push his hands through his hair and thought that he looked at least a little better. He knew the other two had been through things just as bad or worse-- Xander's ever-present frown and dour seeming nature preceded him even now. Camilla struck fear into the hearts of all those around her-- even him. He realized then, that that was likely something developed directly in response to their violent upbringing. 

At the soft knock of the servant girl, he relaxed and returned to his famous composure before resigning himself to his toast and eggs. 

An hour later, Xander came to call while he sat in his study, trying to make himself focus on the research of another dark flame magic he'd heard about but couldn't quite find the correct magical formula for. Leo's elder brother had always been an imposing presence ever since their youth, though-- he did not know him to be unkind. He worried that he'd come to scold him, but Xander seemed to be in relatively high spirits. 

"Good to see you back, Leo." The pleasant sheen of a practiced diplomat. 

"It's... good to be home. I guess." Leo responded, resting his chin in his hand propped up on his desk. 

"I've not heard all of it, but... I am sure father will be reasonable. Surely he will allow us to help you with whatever task he thinks may teach you a lesson." 

Leo was sure that he could see a spark of something in Xander's expression-- a barely repressed emotion that made his jaw clench in between sentences. He hoped against hopes that he could trust Xander. Xander was not like their father. 

"It's not right. Something's _wrong_ with him. The way--" Leo began to speak, but his brother gave him a warning glance and shook his head sharply. 

"Father and I along with his... _advisor_ are to launch an attack at the border tomorrow. We leave shortly. I only wanted to see that you were well and suggest that my little brother... remember to take caution in the future." A silent plea in Xander's eyes made Leo stay his complaints. He stood from his desk and took the older man's hand, shaking it gently before he excused himself and left Leo once more a prisoner to his thoughts. 

He thought that they might torment him far more than his father ever could. 

Leo's research went nowhere, his thoughts wound in circles as he chased sparks of darkness across the surface of his desk. The void: all that was darkness and non-existence. All of its mysteries and the arcane knowledge that it whispered of was a daily and constant companion. He had no choice but to be close to the void itself and to know its fear and its power and all that it was capable of. He was no master but-- this was one time he wondered if perhaps being swallowed up by the darkness wasn't such a terrifying thing after all. If he could know its vast emptiness, perhaps it would better serve him. 

The young prince fell asleep with a book upon his lap near the doorway of his study, bored to death of his own worrying. The overstuffed armchair had been too seductive in its calling, and the gears in his head grinding had sung him to sleep before he'd even realized it. In his dreams, he saw his mother's face and wished he hadn't-- how he longed to forget it all together. Her face haunted him even more than the horrors of the battlefield he had just left; a childish selfishness that never left him even as he grew older. 

A peculiar sound woke him when the night was already wearing on, and he opened his eyes in the pitch blackness, inky and murky with the added film of sleep. The sound was the scuffling of boots against the plush carpet-- he was sure of it, and shortly after it came the hiss of breathing in the dark. 

Leo froze, hoping that the imposing nature of the chair he was curled in might make him disappear altogether, but he wasn't so sure he'd manage to be terribly stealthy in his current state, still sloughing sleep from his limbs. He moved slowly, hoping that the intruder would remain unaware of him-- but as he got to his feet and prepared to better assess the situation a blade sung to his throat so fast that he nearly didn't move back in time. Leo was unarmed, but a mage was never truly defenseless. The sound of his book tumbling to the floor was the only one in the room save for his and his assailant's breathing as he slipped from the chair and moved to the side.

He summoned a light to his fingertips that ignited a glow in the room, revealing a hooded man now pressed with his back against the wall and a dagger in his hand. It was then that he heard the sound of the alarm being raised, of soldiers moving about in the hallways beyond his apartments. They must have flushed this straggler out somehow, separating him from his accomplices. Since Leo had fallen asleep with the door open, his study must have looked like an ideal hiding place. 

Upon closer inspection in the ethereal light, a trickle of red now pooling on the white marble floor was visible. He was wounded; an easy target. It was impossible to miss the stench of the slums on him; the tattered nature of his cloak. But his singular eye reflecting the light from beneath his hood stood out like a jewel catching the light. Leo stalked toward his prey, chin raised as he approached the man, now clutching his side. 

"An assassin? Too bad, my father and brother are gone. I'm barely a consolation prize." Leo's words were bitter enough that they startled even him. 

"Assassin? Oh no, no, no. If I were sent to kill you, you would have died in your chair and never woken up. I take it I am to be shown the true meaning of Nohrian justice and all that now-- yes? Get on with it." 

Leo was ready to make the kill; one that would make his father proud-- but the disinterested manner that the rogue regarded his inevitable demise gave him pause. _Curious_ , he thought. It was almost like he were encouraging Leo to hasten his demise.

The prince edged nearer until he could reach out, the flame from one hand tossed upward to suspend in the middle of the room as he yanked the hood back from the stranger's face. No-- it was no one he recognized as he had thought it might be, but he was as good as some character from a novel; a stunning figure cut in dark stone haloed in white and with a singular eye like polished sapphire. The other was obscured by a crude oval of dark leather tied into place. 

A thief, no doubt-- but he made no moves to attack Leo and did not beg for his life. 

"Do you not wish to plead? To ask for mercy?" Leo finally managed moments later. He could feel that eye boring into him, as merciless as he had planned to be moments before. There was a part of him that longed for the gratification of men begging and groveling before him. This stranger did not offer any of that. 

"Kill me already." The thief implored through gritted teeth. Leo blinked, astonished for the moment-- and he could hear the sound of the guards rattling and shouting their way through the atrium. He would have to make a decision quickly, and to buy himself a little time, lifted his hand and used a blast of magic to shut the door that the stranger had crept in through.

More importantly, Xander and his father were away. He had the right to choose what to do with his own captive-- they need not ever know of his origins. A small smirk made its way to his features as he watched the man before him-- and strange it was to take such amusement in another creature's suffering as he did now. 

"I think I won't. I think you will be much more useful to me alive." Leo said lazily.

A foreign and strange play of emotions crossed the stranger's face, and Leo half expected the man in his desperation to fling himself at him in search of the death that he claimed to crave. The knock on the door as the captain of the guard stopped was sharp.

"Lord Leo sir, thieves have infiltrated the castle, sir!" The voice was muffled by the door and Leo rounded swiftly to stop it from opening-- this time with his own foot. 

"Of _course_ they have-- so what are you doing here? Go catch them, you idiot!" Leo did his best to affect the voice of authority that was really more in the realm of his father and Xander's ability. 

"Yes sir! I thought only to make certain your Highness was safe." Came the spluttered response.

"I'm fine and... quite alone. _Go_." He snapped in response.

Only when the sound of armor and shouting died away did he return his attention to the wounded thief. To his surprise, the man had not tried to run or attack him- he had half expected a knife in the back. 

"You sent them away?" His captive spluttered incredulously. 

"If it is the darkness you seek you may find it if you follow me," Leo spoke slowly, his words cryptic. "Death is too easy for someone skilled enough to have made it this far into the castle," he stated simply. 

"Just kill me. I'm _begging_ you-- show me this one mercy. That is the only plea I'll make."

Leo could not have known nor understood what was going through the man's mind in those moments, but he found him on his knees suddenly as he reached out to touch the prince's bare feet. A strange thing, to be given a boon of fealty so easily. Leo didn't buy it at all-- a thief trying to spare his own life was all he was... and yet something screamed at him; the void itself, the seat of the magic stirring in his chest. A man who begged for death so ready to swear his life-- 

As he looked upon the stranger, the flame in his above them pulsed and flared suddenly and-- he had to dial the energy back to keep from singing them both.

Leo had never had a retainer, and yet now the thought seemed oddly amusing. Perhaps he would make a game of it. 

"Your name."

"Niles. It's Niles, milord." It sent shivers down Leo's spine the way he suddenly looked at him as though he had hung the stars in the sky. There was something wicked hidden in the look and that frightened him too. 

"Niles. I'm afraid I will have to make you my prisoner." At least until he was sure-- he wasn't even certain what he was watching for, or if he cared if the intruder killed him.

He went to the cabinet in the corner of the room and pulled from his personal effects a pair of heavy shackles: the very same as the ones they used in the dungeon. Leo returned to the kneeling lump of a man, bleeding on the floor still-- and fastened his wrists in the manacles. Niles' skin was warm and rough, the callouses on his hands immediately evident. A stark contrast to Leo's pale, well-manicured fingers that were delicate in comparison. 

Leo did not see the bemusedly pleased look on Niles' face, as he gripped the chain binding his wrists. 

He had no idea what he was doing in the dark, dragging his own personal prisoner behind him through the hall, grateful that the security was busy with Niles' accomplices. The tips of his fingers danced with sparks as they lit the candles and torches in their sconces in his room, and he allowed Niles to settle comfortably in a chair, no care for the fact that he might very well bleed on it. 

The thief named Niles seemed a bit mystified, or perhaps that was the blood loss talking. Once securing the door to his room, Leo calmly approached lifted the edge of his shirt to get a look at the wound on his side. 

"Do you still want to die? I could incinerate you in a moment-- if you move too fast." Leo said cooly, though his heart pounded with the very fire he spoke of. 

"Leave me be, and I might... just die on my own." He said softly. 

Again, there was no anger, no rage or fear. Just resignation. It made Leo feel something indescribable; something he couldn't name. 

"You have no fear. I could do anything I want to you. You are completely at my mercy." The prince babbled suddenly. 

"You wouldn't be the first." Niles mused darkly and touched his eyepatch briefly as though to illustrate his point. 

Leo knew very little of healing magic-- most of which he had learned from watching Elise and helping her in her studies, but it would be enough. His pale fingers moved over Niles' lithe side, finding the source of the bleeding as he let his palm pass over it. That elicited a hiss and a groan from his charge, an interesting reaction that bordered on squirming-- probably just from the pain, he told himself. To stop and find himself appreciative of someone's appearance at a moment like this felt rather cheap; as though he was underselling himself. Leo liked to think of himself as a bastion of logic and reason-- but he was still a man with desires and his own tastes. 

"Sorry about that," Leo murmured even as a light shone from his hand, emitting warmth that began to stitch together the wounded skin. 

"Life is pain Prince Leo," Niles said, cryptic as his one eye stared at nothing in particular. He shifted, cuffed wrists resting in his lap. The thought that he could probably escape easily if he wanted to now struck Leo-- but he realized that perhaps that was part of the test he had laid before the man without telling him the parameters. 

He snorted and shrugged. "You sound almost like you like it." 

"I do." So brazen that Leo couldn't even question the statement. 

"Then I think you'll find you came to the right place." Pacing near the heat of the fire in the grate, he gripped Niles' chin and forced his singular eye to meet his. "I've got enough pain for the both of us. It's Nohr's specialty." 

He let go just as quickly and walked away to drop into his own chair. Niles seemed unphased and only let out a wicked little chuckle in response at first. He shifted, the chains between his wrists creating a haunting sound. Leo wore his porcelain mask well, the delicate black circlet that settled upon flaxen hair removed absently as he watched his "prisoner" in silence. His agitation was somehow tied to the way that looking at Niles made his heart twist in his chest; made it feel as though he couldn't breathe and even more beyond that-- that he might like the idea of this stranger causing that sensation for him. 

Leo was a man of learning and the idea that he had acted so rashly was quickly creeping up on him. He was just as weak as any man to pretty eyes, but to get so weak for just _one_ , hard-edged as cut jewels that stared at him from the dark-- it was nearly disgraceful. But on the other hand, he was a man of mysticism, bound by his pacts with the darkness of the Void and its hellish power. He was bound by his darkness; willing to sell his very existence in return for that power. 

"To the victor, the spoils," Leo muttered to himself, and the smirk remained on Niles' face. 

"That's more my style. Am I your battle trophy then? If you were into that you should've just said so." The response left Leo winded, lips parted just slightly as he tried to process what had been said. Surely, this was a joke or some other ploy--

"That's a bit far. And-- don't go trying to butter me up. I am a strategist, and I shall see straight through you." He huffed and stood up just so he could turn away. 

Leo remained silent for a few moments, long fingers twitching before they balled into fists. He gritted his teeth and began to pace again. "This... this doesn't make any sense!" He snapped. 

Niles looked mystified but said nothing at first. He watched Leo fidgeting and fussing, then got to his feet before walking to him. He looked at him before sinking to his knees again. Leo nearly recoiled-- but there wasn't much that Niles could do with his hands in shackles. 

"I will serve you and your pain and your darkness, if you promise to be generous with it," Niles stated clearly, his voice low. 

Leo's breath caught in his throat, unable to resist the desire to reach out and brush his fingers through the platinum curls that adorned Niles' head. He had read countless accounts of men claiming to fall in love with women at first sight, and he'd always thought them silly and foolish, utterly contrived and inflated drivel. Not like this, not like this--

"You were begging for death an hour ago," Leo said, trying to keep the edge in his voice though it was melting away by the moment. 

"I want you to end my suffering," Niles said as though it were perfectly reasonable. Perhaps if Leo had been any of his elder siblings or his father-- but he took no joy in killing. 

He had read that men like this were not merely evil by nature; they simply needed guidance and structure: A purpose. Perhaps that was all that this man needed as well.

"I can't trust you not to kill me in my sleep," Leo said, a wistful tone creeping into his voice. 

"Keep me in chains as long as you must, There are less pleasant things in this world," Niles said from his place on his knees quiet pleasantly. 

If this worked out, then Leo knew he would gain a powerful tool. If it didn't he might die and really, what difference would that make? He lived and died at his father's whim, anyway. 

Attraction, desire, desperation-- together even when projected onto a deadly stranger were powerful forces. He could at the very least understand his own trembling heart from his place inside his own mind, from the compartmentalization that he specialized in. But what this man was thinking? He couldn't understand at all. He seemed so genuine, even though everything Leo knew told him not to trust him. 

In a strange move that was nearly affectionate, Niles who was still on his knees leaned against Leo's leg as though to nuzzle his thigh. The prince however stepped back, trying to regather himself before he fell to his own desires in a way that he would end up regretting. An awful wretch; perhaps a magician himself this Niles was. Leo tried to hate him for the few moments that it lasted, though that charming face turned towards him again, watching him with some grossly exaggerated expression of adoration. 

Perhaps that was all he knew. Perhaps Leo wasn't so different, in what he had to do to survive Garon's rule. He let out a breath that was little more than a sigh of defeat and returned to Niles' side, bending low to guide him back to his feet. He resisted, though. 

"I _will_ serve you." He said again, and this time Leo did not change the subject or question him. 

"Serve me, then. Be my knife in the dark." Leo continued his expression a mask of disinterest which seemed to be his default defense mechanism. 

He wished that he knew what Niles was thinking, wished that he could think of this as anything but a prince simply taking what he liked. Would it not please his father to see him make an example? If he knew the truth, he'd likely want Niles killed immediately. That was why... he had to be the one responsible for making him useful. He must make his choice worthwhile.

Leo reached out again to pat his new retainer's cheek and shook his head. 

"Well, if I'm still alive come morning, we'll discuss your duties at length." He stated blandly, turning to pad his way across the room to his bed. Niles could do as he liked, though his arms were still bound. 

Perhaps he would sleep in if he _could_ sleep at all. The prince crawled into bed, curled on his side beside his rumpled comforter-- the exhaustion he'd tried to fend off before catching up with him. Leo closed his eyes again, sleep blessedly dreamless for a change. 

The shallow sleep he woke up from came in fits and tremors, seeking warmth in the darkness. When the room came into focus, he found himself securely tucked in under his comforter, and curled at his side upon the top of it was the thief-- _so it was not some strange fever dream, after all,_ Though Leo was certain it was quite within the other man's ability to free himself, the shackles on his wrists remained. 

In silence, the prince watched the man wrapped up in his thin, tattered cloak. The face that had worn so many strange expressions the night before seemed vulnerable and soft now, though his brow was furrowed, fingertips twitching. What did a man like that dream about, he wondered? 

Whatever it was seemed unpleasant if the sheen of sweat on his brow was anything to speak of. 

"Niles, wake up." Leo touched his shoulder softly-- and Niles' eyes shot open the moment he felt his presence. 

He seemed disoriented for a moment before the distress melted away to that same pleased expression from before. "Lord Leo." 

Again that look-- something that Leo couldn't comprehend as he looked at him with that single eye. For Leo, it was time to consider the fact that Niles hadn't killed him when he had the chance and that he must consider his father's return in a few days' time. The best he could do would be to make Niles look like he belonged among them-- certainly not like this. 

"You stink." He stated, shifting to dislodge the blankets from himself as he sat up straighter. Niles chuckled at that somehow and offered a shrug. 

"I'm not at my best, I suppose." He bit back a comment about Leo's morning breath not exactly being roses-- but instead, he watched his liege get to his feet, bedclothes clinging to a slender form that hardly suited someone who was meant to be a member of the fearsome Nohrian royal family. He supposed it made sense if he was, in fact, a mage rather than the crazed, ax and sword-wielding type. No, this Leo seemed crazed in a very _different_ way. 

Leo sent the maid that checked on him for breakfast away, asking that she bring him brunch later-- before leading Niles from his room by the cuffs. He laughed and cooed for the entire trek to Leo's personal bathroom-- so much so that Leo was starting to actually get fed up by the time they made the short journey. 

"You're making a scene," He complained as he pulled them into the dressing room. 

"You'll forgive me won't you?" Niles purred playfully and-- it occurred to Leo that perhaps this was a show of his true self. When the fear and the trauma of what had happened begin to melt away in the warmth of each others' company, the tension of what little antagonism had been there went with it. 

Leo didn't respond to Niles' joking request, but he produced the key to his shackles and unfastened them, letting them fall away. He then lifted a pile of towels and brought them over to the big marble enclosure before pulling the chain to start the flow of water. Usually, he had help from ladies-in-waiting. 

Niles rubbed his wrists and moved closer while Leo did his best not to bristle. He showed the man his back as he reached in to feel the temperature. He did not see Niles watching him, drinking in his figure with greed that befitted a thief. Leo was stunningly beautiful in Niles' eyes, though he was not known to be terribly picky. 

Before this sudden fall from grace, Niles had run any number of unbelievable heists and made a name for himself, only to be dropped as dead weight after getting injured in a skirmish with the castle guards. Really, they had all gotten rather cocky to think they could survive this kind of clash in the first place. The Nohrian royals were famously ruthless and feared. 

He had meant it when he asked for death. Being betrayed meant that he had nowhere to go after a life that had been utterly miserable from start to finish. Part of him truly just wanted it all to end, but the entrancing presence that was Leo made him stave it off. If anyone knew how to endure and enjoy suffering, it was Niles. 

The former thief ceased his unseen advance and brazenly stripped out of his (admittedly) filthy clothes, abandoning them in a pile on the marble floor. He watched Leo setting out oils and lotions that were probably worth more than he'd ever made in his entire life-- and strode past him to step into the hot water. 

The prince's eyes left his menial task, unable to hide the fact that he was watching Niles now. He showed no shame, no timidity whatsoever. In fact, he turned to give Leo a better view when he realized he was looking at him. 

"No use beating around the bush. Would you like to join me, milord?" 

His mouth had gone dry, even more so under the smirk on Niles' expression. He noticed that he hadn't removed the eyepatch but-- didn't pry. The conflict sang through Leo's nerves, his body threatening to react without his permission in a myriad of ways. He was no stranger to his own desires-- a prince was more than encouraged to indulge from time to time and yet here, now, he felt strangely vulnerable. 

Leo thought on his own darkness, on the fact that he would never measure up to Xander or Camilla-- maybe not even his adopted sibling locked away in their ivory tower. He could only take his pleasure from what was at his fingertips, and here it was _quite_ literally. He licked his lips, shrugging out of the dressing gown that he had been wearing since the afternoon before and let the soft linen pool at his feet before peeling himself out of his underclothes and stepping forward into the water. The basin was nearly full-- and he had at least half of the mind required to stop the flow as he sank into the water. 

Managing to regain some of his composure, Leo picked up one ornate glass bottle and dripped a few drops of the oil into the hot water, releasing a sweet, candy-floral scent into the room as he beckoned for Niles to come closer. 

"You need a proper scrub. You're filthy."

"Oh, you can scrub all day, _every_ inch of me-- I'll always be a dirty, dirty boy." 

It was so over-the-top that Leo rolled his eyes. All the same, he didn't seem put off by it at all. Niles obeyed the princes' unspoken request and drifted close to him, water sloshing softly as he approached. 

Before Niles could say anything else, Leo dumped a handful of water on his head, immediately wilting some of his platinum curls. 

"I am a man of reason and ritual, Niles." Leo began softly. "I still ought to see you as a threat, by all that logic dictates," He scooped up more water, repeating the process as he spoke until Niles was drenched rather thoroughly. Still, he made no move to remove his eyepatch. Leo did his very best to keep from staring at his bronze skin and the water beading on it.

"I know your skill. Now you will show me your devotion. If you wish to be mine, you will swear your very soul to me, to the dark flame burning inside of me." Leo stated, a wicked amusement playing on his features as he moved to retrieve another bottle from the side of the bath. It had the same sickly sweet scent of candy and roses, and he worked the liquid into Niles' hair, lathering it as he went. He watched the shivers that his touch brought to his body, enraptured.

"I am yours, milord." A simple phrase spoken with an intensity that nearly moved Leo physically. It was electricity down his spine as he tilted Niles' head back to rinse the soap away. 

_Why?_ The question haunted him, left him scratching at the inside of his skull. He couldn't make what had happened make sense to him at all, and the more he thought about it the more he struggled to rationalize it. It was harder and harder to think about much of anything as the moments wore on, Niles so close to him now that he could smell the shampoo and soap on his skin. 

" _Show_ me, Niles." He repeated, voice low and dangerous. 

"As you wish," A soft response, lacking the playful nature of the other things he said so easily. 

Niles' mouth was on his before he realized it, the kiss winding him as if his chest had caved in. Leo suddenly wished they weren't doing this in the bath, longing for something to cling to that wasn't slicked skin. As Niles' mouth moved down to his throat, he could feel his growing erection pressing into his thigh, and the sensation betrayed his own, heat welling up in his chest. 

It was simple, no-frills. Niles pushed Leo down, bent over the edge of the marble tub-- knowing that the edge would bruise his hips. He gave his liege his own hand to bite down on and to stifle his cries as they moved together, though it only heightened his own sounds. 

There was a tenderness in the way that Niles moved to service the prince and how quick he was to obey when Leo softly asked for more, harder-- _don't stop._ Leo had demanded ritual and fealty, and the heady stream of promises and sweet nothing from Niles' mouth. Every demand met left the prince in a trembling heap of post-coital bliss where his new Retainer cleaned him up and doted upon him. 

As they got dressed and made their way back to his room, Leo noted that next time, he didn't want Niles to hold back at all. 

A prince's clothes were ill-suited for a thief, it seemed. Even the fabric of Leo's most generously pleated shirt had trouble buttoning over Niles' chest and shoulders, though he found he didn't mind the button left open at all. Now, if only he could get him to replace that raggedy thing over his eye, the might be able to pass him off as a gentleman. 

"I'd take you shopping if I weren't grounded." He teased. 

"A grown man, grounded?" Niles looked around and gestured to-- nothing in particular, or perhaps everything in the room and beyond it. "Must be nice. Or perhaps it's a gilded cage, hmm?" 

There was no deeper discussion of what had transpired in the bath-- there was nothing deeper to be said, and they seemed to be men of similar minds in that regard.  
It had happened. It had been terribly charged, like the very magic thrumming through Leo's veins-- and he would think about it for weeks to come he was sure, but there was nothing more to discuss. Leo thought it was likely to be a one-time thing, a fit of passion-- and re-focused on what was at hand.

He found himself rattled from his thoughts as they waited for the court tailor, watching Niles drift around his bedroom. Part of him wondered if he was looking at things to steal-- but his thoughts didn't stay there for long. Niles continued to speak. 

"I thought it would be... more than this. Compared to the rest of the Castle this is nearly spartan. Why?" Niles lingered near the foot of Leo's bed, his hand resting on one of the four posters. His dark skin was cast in shadow, an expression that was unreadable on his face. 

Leo shrugged. He supposed he hadn't really thought about it. "I'm the youngest son. It... behooves me to be as dedicated to our cause as possible. Trifling things well-- I find most of my pleasure in books and chess." 

"You're not like the others." Leo wasn't sure what he meant, though he assumed he referred to his siblings. 

"My siblings and I... we aren't the royals you've imagined." He stated. 

Niles made soft sound resembling a scoff: an unspoken " _We'll see._ "

The trappings of royalty were real-- lavish lifestyles were something that came with his blood, but in comparison to what others thought of, and what his father lived like, Leo and his siblings lived a rough and oftentimes violent existence. 

Leo didn't know that Niles was latching onto every little detail he could get his hands on. A thief not only of physical riches but also those he found in the realm of the spiritual and emotional, clearly. 

He had no intention of sharing his darker inclinations; his hatred for the rich and affluent-- that was something he could swallow down and wait for a chance to use it when it better suited his purposes. For the moment, Niles was comfortable enough that he simply reclined on the settee and grinned wolfishly at the tailor and his helpers when he arrived, having already made himself at home.


	2. Kinds of Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sent to reclaim a fort said to be overrun by Faceless in order to appease his father, young Leo prepares for his first battle on his own. Only-- he's not alone at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back at slow-roasting canon and carving for juicy bits (and I'm a bit rusty and like to take liberties with corpses and the like.)
> 
> Anyway, this chapter is a bit bloody and action-packed. Writing it went much faster than I thought it would so rather than answering comments like a proper human I thought I'd just drop it for you.
> 
> I hope my transitions aren't too jarring? I tried to dig more into Niles' pov and brain, in general, this time good luck etc.

Niles was laying across the settee in Leo's room where he'd been for the past couple of days off and on when the prince came stumbling back into the room. He looked unwell, and his eye and cheek were red-- bruises starting to blossom under the skin as he leaned against the door he'd just closed. 

Despite his wrists still being bound whenever Leo took his eyes off of him, Niles was on his feet in an instant and closed the distance between himself and his lord. Leo instinctively brought his hands up to push him back, to fend off an attack-- but Niles only brought up his hands to gently turn the prince's face, pressing into the sore bits to watch him hiss for breath. 

"Who did this?" He asked, and Leo still didn't bring his eyes back up from where they'd been glued to the floor. 

"I'm being sent to fight runaway Faceless out in the wilderness," Leo said dryly, ignoring Niles' question. 

"Your father." He answered himself, a bit incredulous. 

"My siblings are being kept back...so they can't help me." A death sentence very nearly, he knew. Though- he would win respect if he survived. If. 

"I don't want to see anyone else mark you up like this... not _ever_." It was a strange thing to say, Leo thought; especially with the tentative state of their relationship-- If it could be called that. 

"It's an abandoned town, and father is interested in taking back the territory for Nohr--"

"You look beautiful." At that, he really balked, nearly taking a step back. Leo blinked and furrowed his brow. 

"We don't have time for that kind of talk." He said dismissively, though the comment remained in his mind like a hot coal. Despite the air of cold detachedness he had effected, that hot coal burned through layers of his defenses. Again, Niles' sapphire stare was an icepick into his mind, and he had to hide a sharp intake of breath with a sigh.

"I will _serve_ you. I will follow you into the darkness. Just let me." Without anyone to turn to, it was hard for Leo to disagree. His father had said his siblings couldn't help him-- not anything about a retainer that he didn't know he had. 

Leo had clearly tried to go through the motions, to focus on the business of what was at hand, and Niles cared little for it. It was becoming quickly apparent to him how the young prince survived all of this with his faculties intact. Even if he was loathe to admit it at first, Niles could see that some of his methods of surviving and coping were the same. While Niles chose to hide behind layers of oily unpleasantness, Leo chose to present himself as obsessively well-composed and rational. 

The realization helped, but did little for the situation at hand. 

Still in a state of numbness, Leo unfastened Niles' shackles and put them aside. "The time for these-- and for games-- is over." 

Usually, Niles knew he would have offered a snide remark and yet... this was not the time. He rubbed his wrists, eye as sharp as his intentions. 

"If it's a serious situation, then we shall be serious as death itself." Niles was already moving about the room, picking out his newly fashioned cloak that Leo had seen to it that he had. He grinned to himself at the memory of how he'd been scolded harshly for making passes at the handmaid helping the tailor with his work. 

Niles understood Leo's apprehension and his lack of trust, though he couldn't help but puff up a bit with pride over the way the man looked at him and made it clear that he saw his potential. He'd never had anyone recognize his worth before. It was such a shock that he wasn't entirely sure he'd ever thought he had any at all before. Everything before the moment Leo had looked him in the eye and spared his life already seemed dim and distant. He neither wanted nor cared for anything else. 

It was no exaggeration to call his life up to that point a living hell. It was struggle and suffering and nothing more-- desperation to reach for even the simplest pleasures as a salve for the misery he felt day in and day out. Most dismissed him as self-obsessed and sex-crazed, even among the ne'er-do-wells he'd spent years with off and on. He'd had no choice but to remain in the care of the same men who had cut his eye from is head as though they were not lawless thieves themselves. The truth was as muddied as his memories, and the only thing that shone with light was ironically, the power and grace that was Leo. _Of course_ , Niles could only find love and beauty in a creature of the darkness.

Leo had been much slower about getting himself ready-- drifting around the room as though he were stalling. The pain and worry on the man's face was delicious, twisting in his retainer's chest like the thrill of the chase. 

"Come, milord." Niles motioned to Leo as he fumbled (a bit of trial and error) with the cabinet in which his liege's riding armor was stored, polished to a deep midnight gleam. If nothing else, he knew how to help with something like this, or at least liked to think he could figure it out with a little work. 

That first night Leo had fallen asleep so suddenly despite his foreign presence in the room. Niles had eventually gotten to his feet and paced, thoughts a flurry. In his rash single-mindedness, he had simply barreled forward with his impulses as a guide, and now he was quite trapped. He supposed he could just end it himself while the prince slept, or he could cut his throat and run. Would he be safe on the streets without a gang to back him up and royal blood on his hands? He hadn't been safe, anyway-- 

As he wound these thoughts in his head, he paced between Leo's room and the study he had been apprehended in. It was maddening-- he could've turned and walked out if he was careful enough in the dark. Or maybe not... 

Just as the thought crossed his mind, he heard another patrol of guardsmen passing by, and old habit had him bristling, slinking in the shadows. He listened to them talking. 

"--wouldn't be surprised if he just sent him off like the adopted one. Y'know I heard his mother was a _concubine_ , not even nobility." A muffled scoff, likely behind a guard's heavy plate visor.

"The king ain't one t'favor books. He got a strategist to do that for 'im. Surprised the boy ain't been gotten rid of sooner." That brought a chuckle from the first guard. 

"Must be a sad, sad life not 'aven a mother t'love ya, and yer pa half can't stand the sight of ye." 

"Would be sadder if the boy had less gold to spend." The voices became harder to understand as they passed, a garbled infra rumble to Niles' over-sensitive ears, and the quiet after was nearly deafening. 

He had nearly tuned out upon hearing discussion of a mother; a particular sore spot in is own chest. He too had been abandoned by his mother after his father had left though-- he supposed Leo's situation was just as different as it was similar. 

The flurry of thoughts that had been tearing Niles' often already unstable mind apart ceased nearly instantly. He had returned to the bedroom, the candles around the room having all but burned out save for a few that still glowed stubbornly. Without a word, or another thought aside from the strange, calming static that had washed over upon realizing that he and Leo might be alike, he had pulled the comforter over the prince and tucked him in before falling into his own fitful sleep. 

"Do you ride?" Niles was jerked from his auto-pilot by Leo's voice as the stable hands helped load their supplies into saddlebags. He hardly remembered making the way from the princes' room to the exterior of Castle Krakenburg. He blinked, mystified for a moment and then spoke while hardly missing a beat. 

"Oh yes, Lord Leo. For hours, under the right circumstances--" he began to giggle before he finished, and Leo cut him off. 

"I mean _horses_ , Niles." --Spoken through gritted teeth. 

"Yes, of course." Though he'd never owned his own; the occasional rented or stolen beast had made its way between his thighs, and he thought about commenting to indicate as such but... well, his demeanor didn't seem to be helping Leo to relax as he had hoped it would. 

The stablehand led Leo's preferred horse and another to them, lightly armored and outfitted for a long journey. Niles could see that Leo looked as though he were saying his good bye's to the physical realm, a distant and forlorn look on his face. 

Niles cut in and took both pairs of reins from the stablehand, nudging the man away with an overly pleasant smile as he guided himself and his lord down the cobblestone path. 

"Have you considered... running away?" Niles mused as they walked, the rhythmic sound of hooves behind them soothing. 

"Impossible. Don't you _dare_ suggest it again." The response was so sharp that even Niles dare not follow it up further. 

"I truly hope you didn't somehow think better of me or some... such nonsense." Niles mused, another sugary sweet grin on his face. 

"I assure you that shadows even _you_ stand no chance against are watching us even now." Over the long cobblestone bridge that connected the castle with the proper main thoroughfare of Windmire they went, and then down several winding steps. The horses knew the path and were blessedly well trained enough not to balk at the crowds as they passed into the marketplace. 

Leo found himself thinking again that Niles could take off right then and there. He could disappear into the crowd and reclaim his freedom. Instead, the man stepped closer, his hand resting on the plate armor where it intersected beneath Leo's cape. He offered no explanation and didn't notice when Leo clicked his tongue, annoyed. 

The prince passed several stalls, procuring further provisions of things smoked and dried that would last them the journey as well as catering to Leo's unique tastes, and then lingered in front of a stall of leather goods. 

He could all but feel Niles breathing down his neck even with the barrier of his armor and its padding beneath, and it was becoming oppressive enough for him to be a bit edgy, even beyond the circumstances of the situation they were in. The vendor caught his attention, and he offered a few lines of pleasant small talk, before grabbing Niles and dragging him forward. 

"Something more fitting to replace this ragged old thing." The man leaned forward, squinting at Niles' crude eyepatch. 

For the first time since Leo had met him, Niles appeared genuinely uncomfortable, but it was perhaps only because he had been caught so off-guard. He spluttered a: "That isn't necessary," under his breath but Leo was having none of it. 

"Aye, I think I may have just the thing." Leo squinted at the man as he turned and rummaged in one of several boxes of goods, taking a moment to drink in the smell of the place; warm leather in the sun and street food sizzling not far away. It would've been a pleasant excursion if not for the fact that Leo was half-certain he was marching them to their deaths (not that Niles would care... probably.)

"What of this? Should fit just fine." The vendor returned with a thick but minimalistic patch with a subtle silver embellishment that resembled an 'x'. The price tag was relative to its obvious luxurious quality, but Leo hardly paid it any mind. He offered the man his coin and a tip and then shoved the small package into Niles' hands. 

Finally getting a good look at him after he'd been lingering behind him, Leo realized that he was now carrying a bow on his back with a full quiver of arrows at his hip. 

"Where did you get those?" Leo asked incredulously. 

"Did you know that I'm a dead-shot?" Niles said, maneuvering swiftly from the question at hand. 

The last time that Niles had been in this marketplace, he had stolen a pastry on the way by while Laurent laughed about how they'd be pissing in the royals' treasury by the time the moon had come up. He'd hung back, the awful sense of discord that came with being the one man left out of the loop looming over him. He knew they considered him something frightening: a kind of threat that not even the most hardened among them seemed to understand-- but too useful in a fight to really want to get rid of. He had been bound by the self-proclaimed King of Thieves, just as able to hunt him down and destroy him as the Nohrian Justice that he had been so sure would kill him. 

At the gates of the city, Leo turned back again and looked back over the imposing stonework that made up the castle dwarfing the city at its feet. In the setting sun, it always glinted like fire on the horizon. This time, Niles didn't try to smooth anything over and just let him have his quiet moment. All the same, he held tight to the suggestion he'd made earlier. Wouldn't they both be better off to disappear? To seek freedom somewhere far away--

He watched his liege mount his horse, a shortsword and his spellbook at his side before following suit. 

The roads in the kingdom of Nohr were well kept for the most part, though Niles now found himself full of anxiety in a way he had never felt before. Prior to meeting Leo, this would've been his turf: his realm of existence as an outlaw and highwayman-- but like this, they were the vulnerable ones. Niles no longer resembled the tattered gutter rat he'd been when he stole into the castle several nights before. Leo wore his circlet with no intention of hiding his face or identity. Leo refused to run, or be cowardly at all even if it was in his best interest, it seemed. 

The thief's concerns proved to be mostly unfounded, however, and they rode unharassed along the path even until the cobbled path gave way to gravel and then dirt. Leo did not agree to stop until the mounts were struggling to pick their way through the dark, and Niles had to struggle to find firewood to make a decent enough blaze. From there, he set to making dinner without being asked. Leo reclined at the roots of a tree where a blanket was laid out, his pack behind him for support. The prince's armor rested bundled into its own pack not far away, pieces fitted neatly inside one another. 

"You cook?" He finally asked over his canteen of water. 

"You don't?" Niles asked in response though, he supposed the answer was clear enough on its own. 

"I know a few things, I guess. But not enough to really ... make a meal." He responded softly. 

"You learn lots of things when you have to take care of yourself. No offense." Niles responded. 

"No offense taken. You are _truly_ full of surprises." The sound of the horses and running water nearby was soothing and safe, lulling him into a strange haze of warmth. Combined with the smell of food, it was almost well. Pleasant. 

Niles plated dinner and joined Leo under the tree. It was easy to talk about anything or anything-- especially all that amounted to nothing. Leo and Niles were becoming quickly accustomed to a dance made mostly of innuendo and walls that refused to come down; two men gifted at smiling in a way that was really just the act of baring teeth. 

When plates were cleared away and bedrolls were laid out, Niles brazenly moved close and brushed his lips against Leo's without warning. The prince pulled away, and the thief froze, watching him curiously. 

"You don't want to?" He asked slowly. 

"You.... _do_?" Leo spluttered. 

Niles was left a bit dumbfounded and he too, put a bit of space between them so that he may better assess the situation. He searched Leo's honey and whiskey eyes and pursed his lips in thought. 

"Well, yes. --If you do. What is that... not something you're used to?" He could hardly believe it. Despite the fact that he had expected Leo to be a spoiled, bratty royal-- he also thought that he was really the whole package, everything that Niles could have possibly dreamed of if he had had any idea what dreaming was like. 

"No. It's not." Leo said cooly.

He wasn't unpopular. He was a _prince_ \-- but that was the pinnacle of any relationship he'd ever experienced, even the singular, one-night-type that he was prone to. It was the thrill of being so close to royalty that drew a partner in, and then well-- Leo was all that was left after the untouched gleam disappeared. 

Niles searched Leo's face again, gaze resting on the bruise blooming under his eye. He bit his lip just briefly and reached out to brush his fingers under the purple mark. "You are more than your family... or lack thereof." 

Leo nearly protested. In his mind, he had a perfectly good family. His half-siblings inspired a great feeling of loyalty in his chest and yet he feared that the feeling was not mutual. They doted on his father's captive child he kept locked away-- and it made him feel distant from them. He had to admit that there were many times that he felt frightened and alone no matter how he was encouraged to ignore such things. 

He returned Niles' searching look and then leaned close to him, resting his head upon the thief's shoulder. 

"My life is in your hands." He said.

Niles' hands froze for a moment, afraid that when he took Leo into his embrace that he might have to feel the weight of that life. 

"In my hands..." He echoed the phrase back to himself more than to Leo, watching him from beneath flaxen bangs in the dying light of the fire. The horses nickered and nibbled at the grass nearby, though it wasn't enough to shake them from the tension. 

It didn't matter to Niles that he had only known Leo for a short time, only that he had already made his commitment to the future at Leo's side. It was the most conscious, most sober decision he could ever remember making. He feared that Leo's tune might change when he realized the truth about him-- but really, Niles was no good at hiding himself, least of all the veneer of wickedness he relied on for the layer of self he buried even deeper down. 

"I'll hurt you," Niles said nearly under his breath. 

Leo turned that statement over in his head before raising up enough to look Niles in the face. "Not in a way that I don't like, I think." He responded. 

A soft, half-hearted chuckle fell from his lips in response. "I thought you told me that you don't want other people marking me up like this." He gestured to the bruise under his eye. "So I'll expect a full demonstration of exactly what you mean if we make it out of this alive." Leo mused, his tone almost musical-- or perhaps that was only in Niles' head. 

"You... will? It would be my pleasure, milord." There was no hiding his interest in such an offer as a rather open sadomasochist. It was as though something in Leo sought to immediately quell his concerns though there was no way he could have known them-- unless that too was a part of his dark abilities. An amusing thought. 

"Now sleep," Before he could continue his own dark musings, his lord issued a command and-- he couldn't help but laugh a little. 

"Yes, Lord Leo." It came easily, though he had bitterly resisted authority for so much of his life. For Leo: anything. 

The journey itself passed easily although the riding left the both of them sore and stiff. For all of the laughter and playfulness and the way that Leo delighted in Niles' wickedness, he nearly forgot that he was on the most terrifying mission of his young, twenty-year long life. 

Before they had slept for the second time, Niles had become aware of the fact that they were, in fact, being followed but he doubted it was by any agent of King Garon. No, these people moved in a way much more familiar to the thief. He said nothing to Leo, taking it upon himself instead to watch for the inevitable ambush. 

The crumbling wooden fort wall of the town as they approached stood partially splintered, making it appear like jagged, broken teeth in the maw of a beast. The sight of the place was enough to instantly remove the pleasant sensation Leo had experienced after losing himself in their companionship. A cold bucket of water to sober up after a night of partying. 

Niles had been quiet for some time and hanging back which had brought a prickling sense of discomfort to the prince. There were meant to be monsters here, Faceless that had gone out of control of their keepers, but the place was as quiet as death. 

"Something isn't right here." Leo mused under his breath and urged his horse through the gates that stood open. The wind stirred, carrying a foul smell that he assumed was probably just the dampness of the area: rotted wood and bog stench. 

The evening fog had settled in casting an eerie glow where there shouldn't have been. But that was in a way, the nature of such places. The prince and his steed trotted further into the main square, and Niles steered closer, his brow furrowed. 

Leo was starting to learn that he didn't care much for the moments when Niles looked serious. It usually meant something was afoot. 

"We shouldn't be out in the open like this. We're being watched." He stated lowly, through grit teeth. 

The creak of the wind through the trees obscured the sound of an arrow that flew-- to Leo, at least. Niles was in-tune to such things and he had moved just fast enough to shove Leo from his saddle. 

The prince let out a yelp and tumbled to the ground, one foot caught in the stirrup as the bolt buried itself in the damp ground just behind him. Not waiting for anything further, Niles jumped down from his own steed and snatched the arrow from the ground. He bared his teeth in a grimace at the sight of it and the head. The thief-turned-retainer stood over his prince and pulled the bow from his back to fire the arrow back into the shadows of the roof it had come from. 

Only then, as Leo scampered to get to his feet did he realize the source of the terrible smell from before-- to the downwind side of town, a pile of massive, muscly bodies now partially decomposed. The Faceless that he had been sent to eradicate and win the outpost from, presumably. 

He looked up to see Niles, wild-eyed. An arrow bolt rest clamped between his teeth as he let loose his current volley, string drawn to his cheek. Leo was making a fool of himself, letting his retainer do all of the work. 

On his toes, he yanked his spellbook from his hip and prepared an invocation-- but not before a group of men sprang from the fallen-in ruins of a building to tackle Niles and drag Leo back several paces before someone put a knee in his back. The prince did not panic, but he immediately felt for his retainer, as he watched one man crow and yanked his eyepatch away, revealing the badly scarred and sunken-in eyelid beneath. 

Niles winced and turned his face away as the stranger cackled, waving his trophy around. The way that Niles hung his head tore at everything that Leo kept so carefully hidden away, and a cold dread dawned on him as he struggled to twist his wrist free. The horses had bolted, hopefully still somewhere in the enclosure, he prayed. 

A man dressed in red and black with hair that stood on end approached and snatched Niles' eyepatch from the lanky man who had nicked it in the first place-- and Leo realized with a second glance that it was the old ratty one that he had tried to get him to replace before, not the new one he'd picked out. 

The stink of mens' sweat and wet earth permeated everything, and it only became worse as the men holding Leo down ground him further into the dirt. He could feel the plate that met between his shoulder blades pinching and digging into his skin but there was nothing he could do about it now. 

"How's that old wound doing, Niles? Should we take the other one too? What are you, a dog of the royalty now? You'll get on your hands and knees and bark for anyone that'll feed you scraps, won't you?" The man who had approached laughed, a nasty grin on his face. 

Confusion and fear spread over Leo's skin, prickling with the ice-cold terror that warned him of betrayal. But... these men didn't exactly seem friendly to him, did they? 

He tried to weave together a proper invocation without the help of his tome in silence, though he could do little for the men now gripping his retainer's chin with bone-breaking force. Niles had been silent, despondent but when the leader pulled a small knife from his boot, he suddenly began to thrash and howl like a beast caught in a trap. It was as though all logic and rational had left him, and whatever trauma or terror had overcome him had made him into more of a monster than a man. He tore at every bit of bare skin he could find, sending more than one of the bandits skittering away clutching bloody gashes on their faces and arms. 

Leo's own panic began to crystallize into ice-cold focus. His eyes had caught the bright red of one of the arrows fired at them, trampled in the mud-- but the head was intact and sharp and barbed as ever. He kicked and squirmed until he could get the arm that had become pinned beneath his own weight free and snatched it up. 

He tightened his fist around the broken wood and brought it down on a man's calf, tearing through cloth, flesh, and muscle. The howl of pain that went up drowned out even Niles' panicked screeching-- and drew the attention of the man who had spoken his name and was currently trying to get a clean shot at his good eye with a knife.

Someone kicked at Leo and managed to scuff the tip of their boot against his jaw while throwing clods of dirt. The prince saw stars, but he fought viciously, immediately driving his make-shift weapon into the offending foot not once but three times before he heard something crack and saw red. 

Winded, and with his nose likely broken--Leo was sure that they were done for until the body of a man dropped in front of him, and then another. 

In the distraction of Leo's struggling, Niles must have broken free. His dagger from before was in his hand, and though he was bleeding it seemed as though he felt none of it. In his frenzy, he aimed for the throat, and in short fashion, men began to flee in terror as their teammates' blood soaked the ground. 

Leo rolled to his feet despite his pain and disorientation as the outlaws scattered, but he snapped his fingers and brought a tree down to stop the man in red and black from making a hasty exit. 

He retrieved his rumpled tome and watched as Niles stared into the man's back as though he could burn a hole through him and-- he realized that he _could_.

" _Laurent_!" The name that left Niles' mouth was more of a roar than anything else. 

"These are the men that abandoned you, aren't they?" Leo cooed gently and began to approach Niles fearlessly despite his retainer's frenzied and erratic behavior. 

"They did this to you, didn't they?" His eye, they meant. Niles only nodded in return, his one good eye staring at the back of the man who now turned to bolt for another exit. 

Leo moved without an instant, tome open as he conjured a burst of aetherial darkness. It struck the man with the force of lightning and he watched, amused, as he shook and twitched, momentarily immobilized. 

One grunt ran in, trying to help his leader. He tugged at his arm and tried to offer his weight as a support, but even he fled as Leo walked calmly towards his prey, closing in. 

Leo's boot connected with the man's side, and he watched him squirm, slowly coming back to his senses as he dragged his gauntlet across his own face in an attempt to wipe away some of the blood from his nose. 

"He calls himself the King of Thieves. Laurent." Niles said hoarsely, voice raw from his screaming. His hands were still shaky from the adrenaline overdrive. 

"A king, hm? The kind of king that likes to take from the flesh of his so-called subjects." Leo curled his lip, disgusted. 

"Laurent and his men followed us here from Windmire. I wasn't sure-- I should have told you sooner... What... do you want me to do, Lord Leo?" He hesitated, seeking Leo's order and a bit cowed at the show of authority from the prince.

"Do you want to kill him? Do you want to make him suffer?" Leo answered with his own question. 

He didn't look, but he knew Niles nodded. In another story where the heroes always won, the _good_ prince would have implored to teach a lesson and spare the man's life. But Leo turned to look into Niles' one good eye, vulnerable and honest as he spoke. 

"Kill him. But... Make him _beg_ you for it first." 

Leo sat down on the tree he had felled and unfastened the plate on his hands so that he might better be prepared to clean their wounds as Niles dropped onto this "king" of thieves and the first scream of agony pierced the air. 

When he helped toss what was left of a corpse onto the pile at the other end of town, he had no idea how long it had been-- but the sun had fallen, and they'd managed to recover Niles' horse at least. Leo found himself lingering there, Looking at the ruined flesh and empty eye-sockets of a criminal: far more than a literal eye-for-an-eye, it seemed. He didn't have the heart to pry further into Niles' past after seeing him so raw, so taken down in those moments when he had been held captive before. He could only imagine that Laurent's threat had taken him back to a time even worse than this, and had no desire to dredge it up again.

Brought from his reverie by Niles touch, he looked up as his retainer laid his cloak over his shoulders, blood still visible on his hands and the arms of his shirt. 

No... this wasn't something someone visited upon a mere rival. Leo could only assume that this Laurent had taken much more than Niles' eye, as he had implied. It was more than that, and the thought chilled him to the bone. 

"You shouldn't have to see this up close." Niles tried to steer him away, but Leo gently waved him off. 

"You do beautiful work, Niles." Leo had no way to express just how much he really did appreciate the kind of person who could make doing the dirty work into an art- but for a royal desperately in need of that kind of support, a murder of this magnitude was a canvased masterpiece. 

Niles began to accept it then; that Leo would accept him exactly as he was.

"I appreciate it, milord. Now-- come to the fire. It's getting cold." 

Niles watched Leo as he drew water from the town's well, insisting on helping them get cleaned up, though all of the mess really didn't bother Niles much. He managed to pull a meal together from what was left in his saddlebags and didn't even complain much when Leo started scrubbing the blood and dirt from his hands and nails. It felt somehow improper though Niles didn't mind _that_ either. 

The fight before should've brought back the moments from that ill-fated village Leo had been ordered to destroy not long ago, but it had felt entirely different. There were times that he had hated his father almost as much as he hated his mother, but now he had found some sense of truth in battle like his siblings. No: in battle with Niles in particular. 

He turned Niles' freshly washed hands over in his and gently pressed his thumbs to his palms. "My siblings... Xander especially. They're known for being upstanding and benevolent. Camilla has her own realm of specialty. You and I... we will rule from the shadows. We will outsmart and outwit anything that stands in our way. What cannot be outsmarted or outwitted will be flayed." 

"Oh Lord Leo, I love it when you get like this. Ravage me, won't you?" Niles simpered. 

Leo scoffed and rolled his eyes, though he understood Niles' need to make the situation less stiff. "--Later." Was all he said in response before shifting to dab at the dried blood on his own face.

When Niles brought Leo dinner, he was wearing the new eyepatch that he had bought at the market-- probably mostly due to the fact that he had no choice in the matter now, and it seemed to be one of his few weak spots. Despite claiming to not need it, he had clearly stored it away among the things in his saddlebags. 

"I killed the king of thieves tonight." He mused through a small mouthful of their dinner. "You may not be in line for the throne, but we _can_ rule the underground together." He said pleasantly. 

Leo knew nothing about how that world of darkness worked-- it was a kind that he had no knowledge of. The void and the darkness he knew was... very different. 

"You saved me, Niles." The comment seemed to have come out of nowhere. 

"Hardly. You saved me first, and I shall save you every time you need it from here on out." 

Having rooted out the outlaws occupying their fort, Leo felt as though he would have more than enough to get his father off of his back-- at least for now. When he'd stripped out of his armor for the night, he didn't think twice about falling asleep in Niles' arms. Returning in triumph was unexpected, but welcome, and he let exhaustion pull him under without so much as a second thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Couples that slay together stay together. 
> 
> A lot of this story is really born from my vague irritation with how media portrays things like well, masochism and sadism. I'd apologize for treating the characters' characterization like a box of scraps in a cave but..... well that's exactly what I'm doing, and hopefully making it slightly _better_ and if not, at least more realistic. 
> 
> Anyway, I really interpret their relationship as being two very dark individuals who are not necessarily bad people. They find a kinship in that darkness where they could never really share it with anyone else, which is in my opinion, why they latched onto each other so quickly and so intensely despite the fact that by all logic it never should've happened. 
> 
> More of that when they get to decompress and really address stuff later.


	3. The Memory of Trees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Xander and Camilla meet Niles, and the time to face king Garon again finally comes. The outcome is not what anyone expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me longer than I wanted it to if only because I wanted to accurately capture some very nebulous and hard-to-express concepts in a way that was digestible without too much heavy-handed introspection. The idea that Niles is rather disliked by nearly everyone but Leo and perhaps his siblings (and in the very near future, Odin, and those he'd get ''supports'' with) is something that I'd like to convey clearly by the end of this tale but... we'll see.
> 
> The recurring themes in this story of Leo and Niles not necessarily being perfect (or sometimes even good) people, but perfect to and _for_ each other remain my main focus. I feel like I could have gone a lot of places with this chapter, but would've ended up doubling the length. Hopefully, the next one will be a little less cerebral. I focus a lot on keeping this relationship as real as possible but also rooted in the absurdity that real life can spit at you (often inspired by my own and others' real life experiences.) After this chapter, we'll be seeing their relationship morph more into what it is in canon after that New Relationship Energy has died down a little bit.
> 
> Anyway: **warning for gore and violence, sexual situations etc.**

Morning in Windmire never came quite as early as it should have. It was as though the city itself swallowed what light tried to pass into it, which was purportedly fitting. It still felt too early to prince Leo, whose aching joints and throbbing face made him want to stay in bed indefinitely-- or at least for a few more days. The bruising had progressed to that sickly yellow and grey stage at least, which meant it was on its way out. He groaned and hissed, several sounds of complaint punctuating the effort it took for him to extract his limbs from Niles' bronzed skin which created a contrast against his that could've been poetic in any other setting.

The prince's long legs had been draped over the curve of Niles' hips-- he was rather sure he remembered falling asleep like that if the pinpricks and static that warned him that his feet were very much _still_ asleep were any indicator. Another groan of protest and he turned to bury his face against Niles' chest. A heartbeat thrumming so close to his own-- something he had never really experienced before quite like this. Part of Leo had thought he'd never find someone he could feel close enough to appreciate the rhythm of their life force: not like plants. Plants were much more straightforward, and trees remembered for centuries. Leo himself and his retainer, still sleeping-- and seemingly unplagued by whatever unpleasant visions crept into his mind on most nights... where much more ephemeral in nature. 

Leo sighed and touched Niles' cheek before brushing his hand back through his hair. He didn't jump awake like he had that first morning, perhaps having begun to get used to such close co-habitation-- but he did blink himself awake at the sensation of nails lightly scratching against the back of his neck. 

Leo offered a small smile and then leisurely got to his feet and began to get dressed-- blessedly casual for a change. The sharp knock on the door a few moments later nearly made him jump out of his skin. It was entirely unexpected, and what came next almost moreso. 

"Lord Leo, his highness the Crowned Prince Xander has arrived with Lady Camilla an--aah--" Before the guard could finish making his introduction, he heard the sound of the outer door push open and the tell-tale sound of Camilla's shoes of choice on the marble in the drawing room. 

Leo immediately whirled on Niles who had instinctively gotten up and hopped into his pants, currently tangled in a shirt and gesticulated wildly at him though to what end was anyone's guess. His room was as Niles had once noted-- nearly spartan as far as what kind of space other royals and nobility might keep. It was usually rather tidy as well, a manifestation of Leo's need to control his environment where he lacked the ability to do so in other aspects of his life. But now, it was a bit more lived in: the scant belongings that Niles had begun to accrue scattered here or there, a few bottles of wine from the night before on the low table near the fire. 

There would be no getting out of this talk, and Leo closed his eyes, bracing for impact as Camilla grabbed him and swept him into her arms. Her hugs were as tight and insistent as ever, and he squirmed to keep from having his still very sore nose crushed into her chest. Xander stood back, smiling fondly at first before he really took in the state of the room-- and then an expression that read a mixture of concerned and curious surfaced. 

"You did _so_ good Leo! I'm so proud of you." Camilla's words of praise didn't really sink in though he dearly appreciated them. "You have to tell me everything." 

Niles seemed to have tried to diminish himself entirely but there was no hiding. He half wished he had managed to escape into any number of wardrobes or cabinets, or at least behind the dressing screen in the corner but he just hadn't thought fast enough this time. He was locked in an uncomfortable staring match with Xander when Camilla seemed to notice him suddenly and let out a shriek. 

"You there! Who are you and what are you doing in Leo's room?!" Leo let out a slow hiss of breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. This was going to turn out to be one of Camilla's usual freak outs, wasn't it? No, he'd have to stop it before it began. 

"Now, now Camilla." Xander was unexpectedly the one to step in. "Leo is quite grown-- I think it far beyond you to decide who may or may not be allowed in his room... or his personal affairs." 

The thought that perhaps the other man was a lover or friend and _not_ an intruder seemed to have not crossed his sister's mind, but she seemed at least somewhat placated by the suggestion. 

"He's my retainer-- This is Niles," Leo said haltingly. 

"Milord, mi _lady_." He addressed Xander politely, though he could barely conceal a leer in Camilla's direction. It looked as though it physically pained him not to waggle his eyebrows. 

Leo nearly slapped him on principle but held it in with gritted teeth, jaw clenched. Somehow, he ended up finding these moments rather endearing-- after they had passed, of course. 

"I've not heard any of this. Has he been sworn to you? Surely father does not know, he made no mention of it." Xander looked amused rather than worried, and that was the only thing that soothed Leo's nerves. 

"N-No." Really, Leo'd been hoping to avoid all of that messy business and just make this an under-the-table-deal but that was... highly unrealistic and he knew it. 

Camilla puffed out her cheeks as she examined Niles' face. "Mmm, I guess if Leo thinks you're good you can't be _that_ bad. However! If you're naughty to him, I'll have to introduce you to my ax." She said. 

"I assure you, I want only what Lord Leo wants," Niles responded, charming to a fault. He was able to avoid Camilla's accusation without being entirely truthful. He couldn't promise he wouldn't do something naughty at all; only that he would obey Leo quite willingly. 

There were other things on the siblings' minds though, and Xander quickly re-directed the conversation, even as he gave Niles a smile and an amicable nod. 

Leo took a seat on the ottoman at the foot of his bed, arms crossed as everyone made themselves somewhat more comfortable in the room. 

"I'm uncertain as to why Father hasn't called you for an audience yet. It's very strange." Xander mused, frowning. "With Iago skulking around, there's only so much that I would risk and yet-- I'm worried for you, my brother." 

Leo took a slow breath, his heart pounding for too many reasons to count. Hearing his brother worry over him made him feel things that were hard to control, and he tried to swallow it down as quickly as possible. Keep that face on, he told himself. 

"Perhaps father is merely busy with... well. Whatever he does after a successful battle." Camilla offered. Her guess was as good as anyones. 

Niles shifted from where he'd leaned, arms crossed as he paced into the room. "The King _is_ Leo's father, no? So what's the problem?" 

The answer was obvious, but he waited for Xander's acknowledgment in the form of a quiet grunt and nod. "Predictable," 

His bitterness made it clear that his only real loyalty was to Leo. At that moment, Xander saw it fit to change the subject as Camilla took a seat in a chair, leaning forward and looking vaguely dejected. 

"Interesting; You see, I've been considering taking on a retainer of my own-- ah, but. You really must observe proper procedure soon. Though I suppose it is a Lord's right to decide upon the nature and time of his ritual." He said pleasantly. 

Leo looked avoidant, and Niles curious-- as though he might burst with questions at any moment. 

"Alright, alright. Enough." Leo complained with his arms crossed over his chest. 

"And-- Leo? You've put your jacket on inside out." His face flushed as Xander commented on his state of dress so casually-- and he immediately began to shoo them away.

While Camilla fussed over him, the prince gently ushered his siblings out of his room, all while Niles looked on, a bit incredulous. He was a man of ritual, he reminded himself. This was the nature of the power of his tome, Brynhildr-- and his magic in general, and yet... 

"What proper procedure is it that our dear crown prince is harping over, hm?" Niles asked as he returned to lounge on the bed. He stretched like some great cat, expression as icy as his tone. 

"It won't be anything to concern yourself with until we have to go before my father." He muttered darkly. 

"I'm concerning myself with it _now_ , Leo." It was the first time that Niles had addressed him by just his first name, and it surprised him a bit. The emotions were something he'd have to unpack later, he decided and then finally spoke again. 

"A blood ritual. It's a formality, but _must_ be done. How and in what manner is largely up to a lord and his man but--" Leo rolled a shoulder, the sense of Niles coming closer to him suddenly looming. 

He had crawled down the bed and then rose up on his knees to lean close, chest parallel to Leo's back as he rested his hands on his shoulders. 

"You seem to think that I wouldn't like the idea of being one with you, milord. I'll have you know that if that _is_ what you're assuming you are entirely wrong." His voice reached the prince's ear low and dangerous as he came closer and rested his chin on the curve of Leo's shoulder as his hands slid lower over his chest. 

It was... somewhere between sexy and terrifying-- a strange mix that Leo had hardly realized was so _very_ alluring before Niles had fallen into his life. He found himself thinking that there was probably something wrong with him, really, but he melted in Niles' hands, leaning into him. He lifted his heavily lidded gaze and tilted his head. 

"There are many reasons, good ones: that people are terrified of my family and what we stand for," Leo responded, his tone just as intense. 

"Oh, I know. I know what I'm getting into. Don't sell me so short." Leo sighed at Niles' response, knowing quite well that his stubbornness was probably something he couldn't overcome with mere words. 

Some of the tension dissipated, but Leo wasn't sure he was ready for everything that was to come. Perhaps the act of ritual making everything permanent was exactly what worried him. 

He clammed up again, but Niles seemed to have lost interest in prodding him about it further. The quiet made him antsy, but Leo seemed perfectly placid as he went about his business. Further, the reality of his new life was beginning to sink in. How did people pass their time without constant fear of attack, assault and the haze of drugs and alcohol? The fact that he didn't know settled over him with bitterness. 

As Leo leafed through one of many books lying upon the desk near the windows (smaller than the one in the study and seemingly superfluous really,) Niles tried not to collapse in on himself. He tried not to fidget, but he ended up quite literally wringing his hands, causing the knicks and scrapes that were still healing on his hands to sting. 

Finally, Leo lifted his gaze, brow raised to show his curiosity. "You are free to do as you like Niles. You needn't stay glued to my side." Though he supposed-- where would he go in Castle Krakenburg? Would he be reminded over and over of his former life, unable to move on? Leo closed his book then, stopping to briefly pay attention to one of many potted plants that reached towards the high windows. He sighed and brushed his fingertips along a leaf, showing no real reaction as the wilting leaves perked up. 

"Your wish is my command Lord Leo-- even if that wish is for me to go from your side," Niles answered after a while. 

"Don't be so dramatic," Leo retorted with a hint of playfulness in his tone. 

He came to sit on the bed next to Niles, that guarded but pleasant expression still on his face. 

"Anything for you, Lord Leo." The blind devotion was something Leo didn't yet know how to process. His natural sense of paranoia, long instilled by his father's upbringing told him to be cautious. But the prince's own heart was quickly and recklessly teaching him to overturn that. He scoffed at Niles' statement and looked away. 

A little longer, he lingered near the plants, eyes on a sapling that reached toward the window at a bit of an angle. He had planted it from a seed on a whim. Its life was only beginning-- but trees could become ancient. As things stood, he and this little one were not so different. Perhaps it had no realization of what other trees remembered, or that it might one day grow to be as mighty. He turned back to Niles, that same atmosphere still hanging over him like a mantle of clouds.

"That seems so easy for you to say." He muttered.

"It is-- and I tell you this now: That my life has only just begun, and it is thanks to you." As gratifying as it was to hear Niles say such a thing, he knew on some level that Niles was showing him a face that he showed to no one else, and wasn't sure how he felt about it. Mostly honored-- though it was a bit maddening. 

"I still think you're being dramatic but... I'm honored." He said softly. 

"Be more than honored," Niles responded in that cryptic nature of his. 

His hand came up to brush lightly against Leo's cheek, pushing silken strands from his cheek. Leo thought it unfair how it made his heart flutter, how easily it was that Niles could reach into him and draw him out of his shell. It was frustrating and made him want to struggle for the control he was always so brutally denied in his waking life and yet-- the thought of relinquishing it willingly was enticing and made goosebumps wash over him wherever Niles touched. 

"Look at you melting at my touch. I wonder how desperate I could make you. Would you beg me for more?" And Niles really couldn't hide his own more carnal nature. It was ignited at the slightest thing, and Leo wasn't sure he minded. 

"You _would_ like that wouldn't you? Can you earn it though, Niles?" Leo asked in return, words dripping in that sugary-sweet venom that they were both so good at. 

Niles met his eyes, singular gaze searching and rather stalwart. He wouldn't back down and he had the sense that Leo didn't want him to. 

Suddenly, Niles got to his feet and crossed the room to the area in front of the hearth, his bare feet sinking into the plush rug. He dropped to his knees and reached under the settee to retrieve something, moving back to where he had left Leo sitting and aching for the sudden space between them. 

He returned with the soft sound of metal clinking against itself and presented the selfsame shackles that he had been confined to for three days to Leo. The wicked glint in his eye sent pleasant shivers down Leo's spine and he already knew what his answer would be.

"Would you like that demonstration you asked for now, Leo?" Again, he used his name-- free from honorifics and propriety. 

"Yes." A beat. "Just make sure the door's locked this time." It wouldn't do to have his siblings come in again at a time like this. 

"As you wish." He responded pleasantly. "Undress for me, my prince." 

The command was spoken over his shoulders as he went to make sure the room was, in fact, secure and was pleased to find Leo had complied with seeming enthusiasm when he returned. 

As Niles settled back onto the bed, he knelt next to Leo's lithe form, gently snapping the shackles into place. "Now you must _command_ me to stop if it becomes too much for you. Understood? Any other pleas may just go in one ear and out the other you see." Leo nodded as Niles roughly lifted his arms up, hooking the chain between the shackles over the ornamentation on the heavy, wrought-iron headboard. 

"Y-Yes," Breathy, heavy with a desire that he did not know he knew how to feel-- Leo was lost to Niles' spell: a magic that even he couldn't master. 

Niles' calloused hands crept along the curve of Leo's chin, thumbs brushing lightly against his chin and then his throat. "I can't wait to see what your pained expression is like-- when it's all my doing." 

He felt rather robbed of the opportunity until now. Really, Niles was shocked at the rough kind of life that Leo lived. Even a prince-- even his own son was not free from King Garon's cruelty. Dangerous thoughts to think, knowing that he'd have to obey the man's orders by proxy often in the future. He stopped to examine Leo's face, still a bit lost in thought which was honestly unlike him. The bruises were healing, though there were still dark spots around his eyes and nose. 

Letting out a deep breath, Niles then pulled back as though re-centering himself and left a trail of kisses down Leo's chest and stomach to his hip. When he arrived there, he sunk his teeth into the pale flesh before he purposefully sucked a dark bruise onto the skin. His first mark-- but it would not be the last. 

He ignored the squirming it elicited-- even the soft whimpers. If he went too far, Leo was to command him to stop. Niles lifted his head to glimpse the expression the pain had left on his prince's face, and it was as sweet as he'd imagined it might be. 

"Do you want me to make it hurt?" Niles knew the answer to the question, but he wanted to reaffirm, and perhaps just see hear it from him again. 

The response came as a whimper and a nod, and Niles moved forward-- more than happy to indulge. 

Leo had known it was coming, but when a guard knocked on his door with the kings' summons it still made his heart drop. His skin prickled like cold water had been tossed on him, though he knew he as quite dry. even worse was that the summons demanded the presence of his companion-- not _retainer_ : not yet by their family's standards. He and Niles had been basking in each others' presence in the quiet. 

Niles dressed in silence, understanding the gravity of the situation. He let his eyes linger on the bruises he'd left before they were hidden away by black silk and linen as Leo put on something appropriate for an audience with the King. Niles dressed in his best; all recent gifts from his lord. He had refused many of the popular styles of the nobility, opting instead for clothes similar to what he had always worn, different only really in the quality of the materials used. He wore a gold chain upon his cloak and at his hip, proudly displaying tokens of his lords' grace and generosity. 

The visceral wobbliness that came with the arrival of the thing one most dreads had come over Leo, and his movements were near robotic. Niles did not interrupt until they were both ready, and it was only to squeeze the prince's shoulder. He hissed, the echo of a bruise beneath his clothes-- fresh and tender-- reminding him of where he was and what was going on. More importantly: reminding him of Niles and his affection. 

"Let us be off," 

It was clear now that after a week or so, the pair had already fallen into a careful rhythm. It alternated between how they were able to present themselves in public and what they fell into in private, behind the closed doors of the Nohrian prince's bower. Niles now fell into the step almost comfortably, trailing after Leo with a rather self-important aura. In this space, he was Lord Leo's retainer: His knife in the dark that cut through anything that might stand in his way. 

The guards at the entrance to the audience chamber recognized Leo and knew what business he was there on. The relative silence and lack of questioning somehow made the air even heavier. Niles found himself examining the reddish stone of the walls with his good eye, the heavy and ominous black and steel doors that were pushed open with the sound of rolling thunder finally succeeding in instilling a sense of doom. Niles knew little of fear. He did not fear death and dying-- not torture either, though he had proven before that he had an uncontrollable reaction to the trauma of having lost his eye. 

It was easy for men to die. But perhaps, something of Leo's strange kinship with plants was seeping into his mind. From here on out, he didn't care if he lived or died-- only that something would preserve the memory of what he felt, of what he lived for even through the suffering and the pain. He wished silently for the memory of trees to be something that carried their connection forward into forever. 

King Garon sat on his throne above the flat stone of the room beneath the dais. The sight of him wasn't as intimidating as Niles had expected it to be, he thought-- but Leo seemed to have trouble stepping up to face his own father, though the hesitation lasted only a moment. 

"Prince Leo, your wounds seem to have begun to heal nicely. Now tell me of what you encountered in the East." 

Niles remained silent and composed though the atmosphere was tense. He had no way of knowing what might come of this. Though the pallid old man listened calmly, his expression remained placid. When Leo finished their story, leaving out of course the way he met Niles and glossing over the details of the bandits they had fought, The king clasped his hands and leaned forward. 

"A harrowing tale to be sure, if not a bit.. vague. You must improve your reporting of details in the future. --Since when did you have a hired man, Leo? I should like to see his mettle tested." Garon mused. He gave off the air of someone toying with his prey. 

Leo shifted uncomfortably, avoiding the urge to steal a glance of Niles and drew in a sharp breath through his nose. From this far away, he hoped his father couldn't see the signs of nervousness and distress. He held tightly to the spark of magic flowing through his veins, as if he could ever hope to actually make a move against his father-- in the moment, he was threatened enough to be tempted.

"Surely, his affiliations wouldn't stop him from showing me, his king, a boon of his undying loyalty." Leo's mouth was frozen half open, as though he had meant to step in and say something but didn't quite make it. Instinctively, he had raised an arm as though to shield Niles in some manner-- as Garon raised his hand and signaled his guards. 

They escorted with them several men in chains. 

Leo's blood ran cold with panic in fear of what could come to pass in the next few moments. He knew his father's favorite tactics and mind games-- and one of them was this: to present someone with their family or friends and arbitrary charges brought against them that demanded their death. Nohrian justice. The person would then be given the command to kill their own kin or join them.

He planted his feet and watched as best he could from the corner of his eye as Niles stepped a bit closer, his single eye a wide and curious as he watched the captives, pushed to their knees on the floor. There was no distress, as there might have been for just about anyone else: only a keen interest.

"These thieves were caught in the forest, flushed out by your clearing of the encampment. I ask that your hired man, this... _Niles_ , dispatch them by his own hand. Now." 

Leo recognized only the messy, unkempt style of their appearance-- but Niles seemed a bit more familiar. 

It was boring, he thought: to be asked to hunt when his prey was already bound. They were grunts, little more than the stones that Laurent had stood upon to claim his lofty place as a self-named king of thieves. But Niles had lived among them for most of his life-- they might have been called friends if there had been any _real_ honor among thieves. 

Niles tilted his head as he shifted his weight, the soft leather boots he wore creaking slightly. Then, he turned to Leo and bowed his head in respect, superfluous in his posturing as he quietly made a request. 

"May I have your sword milord?" Usually, he seemed to favor a dagger or bow-- but he seemed to want something very specific this time, as though the job at hand was more ceremonial than actually pertinent to anything. 

Leo often forgot that he wore a blade at his hip for the frequency with which he ever drew it-- and startled before he searched for it at his hip. The frog seemed to have been buckled onto his belt backward, making it a bit awkward to draw and pass over. 

"Niles no, please-- aren't we brothers?" The man closest to him fell onto his face, begging for his life. 

"You know that you won't be spared even if I were to stay my blade." He mused, sounding vague and detached as he flashed a lazy shrug. Leo remained frozen in silence, rooted to the spot. 

Before, Niles had seemed to enjoy fighting and even killing. Now, he seemed to find it to be terribly mundane. He lifted Leo's sword and drove it into the back of the begging man's neck, severing the spinal column immediately. He had to place his boot on the shoulder of the corpse to pull the blade loose, and then he systematically turned to the next captive even as blood spilled beneath his feet and splattered onto his clothes. 

Leo found himself thinking that he never wanted to see such emptiness in anyone's eyes ever again: that even if it put him in danger he would stop his father from insiting this madness on anyone else-- but Niles relished in at the very least, doing his duty to His Lord. He felt no ties to these men, not really, but he found little joy in acting for Garon's amusement. It was no different than the years that his tormentor and abuser had controlled him, and so he found no joy in it whatsoever.

Blood splattered his boots as the second man got to his feet, driven by adrenaline and attempted to run-- and Niles swung the sword to catch him across the back, a vicious bisection that caused more than just blood to spill on the floor as he collapsed. And Leo looked on, enraptured by the ugly dance, the stench of death and Niles pale hair wreathing his head like he were some angel of death. 

The third thief cried and squirmed but did little more-- and Niles killed him with just as much cold efficiency. Before he had come to belong to Leo, he would've done just the same if ordered to do so by his 'master.' The only difference was that he actually wanted to serve Leo and did not do so out of necessity. 

Niles knelt and cleaned his the blade before returning it politely to Leo to sheathe. He nearly dropped it, the grip in his hands having gone slack-- but with some struggling managed to return it to its place at his side. Finally, he spoke dryly to his father: "Will that be enough, Majesty?"

Garon was silent for some moments, a bit taken aback that there was no moral dilemma or proselytizing as there usually was. Quite efficient this thief of his son's was. Fine. "Acceptable. Go with him to the dragon priests, make your covenant, and all shall be well." 

That was where the thing that Leo dreaded must happen, but something else sang in his heart now. He hadn't been nearly as mortified as he had expected to be while Niles did his violent duty. No, He had realized that they had done something nearly impossible for him before. He had defeated King Garon's mental violence by proving that he and his retainer were more unhinged than even he could imagine. In their revel of the darkness, they could surpass even the cruelty of his father. Niles now offered to him something that he could not have realized-- _freedom_. 

The only way to survive his father's cruelty was to know how to be just as ruthless and more. 

"You were merciless, Niles," Leo spoke as they turned back towards the hallway. 

"They got blood on my new boots." He lamented in return. 

"Unfortunate."

"Oh but milord, don't think for a moment that I don't enjoy dealing death. I will kill for you any time you ask. I will do it with relish. I've come to like it best when you watch." He made certain that this was affirmed just in the case that Leo was unsure. 

A man who enjoyed killing; who found some kind of twisted joy in the act of dealing pain and taking life. A perfect fit for a royal who stood little chance of ascending to any throne and held little power in the front world. He had truly meant it when he said they could rule the underworld... but perhaps nothing else.

"And now, you shall join me in the darkness... for evermore." Leo bit back any fear of what could be, knowing that he had to do this in order to get the king off of his back and to accept Niles completely as one of them. 

They proceeded down the hall and back past the audience chamber, through a series of corridors that Leo usually did his best to avoid. People he didn't care for in the least often occupied them with their sneering self-importance. But now-- this was for them. For him and for Niles. For a new life, where no one could stop them. 

The consecrated carved arches decorated with the visage of ancient dragons heralded their arrival, and a strange woman, veiled in black, came to greet them. Leo spoke to her in hushed tones and then led them further inside. Upon her veil sat a horned headdress of sorts, and it cast strange shadows on the walls as she walked ahead.

Niles knew nothing of the gods or esoteric rituals-- really, it all belonged in the realm of the royals for whom blood coursed with the vigor of so-called dragons. He questioned the truth of such claims, and yet he gazed with childlike curiosity at what was happening around him. The room was carved ornately though it was the same stone throughout Castle Krakenburg. In the first room were benches for worship, several statues that he didn't know the likeness of-- but they were brought to a smaller room behind a heavy velvet curtain. It was hexagonal in shape, sunken into the floor a bit and lit with the same preternatural flames that Leo occasionally summoned forth. They were black and yet somehow emitted light. In the center, something twisted black hovered above a podium.

The priestess produced from a pedestal a drinking horn, seemingly suspended in midair until it was gripped and lifted. She presented it to Leo, offering a chant in some language that Niles had no comprehension of. 

The prince took it and from a small, carved-in slot on the side of the horn drew a tiny blade; a lancet of some kind. He pressed it to his palm and drew it across the flesh swiftly, opening it enough that the blood could flow freely. Niles watched, transfixed as his lord's blood dripped and splashed into the vessel. 

Many people, even the Nohrian citizens themselves, considered the royal family to be rather dark and untouchable at best and terrifying at worst. It was clear that all the whispers of dark magic were true, and Niles was neither shocked nor pleased with the realization. 

He expected some kind of light or smoke from the drinking horn: something flashy at least, but there seemed to be nothing- only the thick slosh of liquid, far more than what Leo had bled into it. He knew little of magic: only what he had witnessed at Leo's hands, and at that- he was willing to trust the man, even unto death. 

Niles knew that Leo was saying something but he didn't quite catch it. The incense in the room made his head feel heavy and distant, but he managed to track the prince's movements with his eye. 

"--in the sight of the divine, do hereby partake of my blood. Blood of the highest and divine imparted to you, to bind you to its service all the days of your life." Though Leo's voice seemed far away, Niles remained determined and took the horn with a firm grip when it was presented to him. He hardly waited before tipping it back, drinking deeply like a man parched in the desert. 

Leo stared, watching him with an unreadable expression-- seeming eerie in the black flame's light. Again, Niles had been expecting something profound to happen, but he found only the overwhelming wash of the taste of copper. Leo seemed a bit mystified, blinking at him dumbly as the priestess spoke again and took the horn from Niles' hands. 

"Uh-- and... thus you are bound to the blood of the dragon ever anon. As keeper of Brynhildr, I bind you to me for all time, until the sundering of the worlds, until the memory of trees ceases to be spun." Leo said, a bit awkward in his delivery. His eyes rested on Niles bronzed face and the trickles of crimson that ran in rivulets from his lips.

From a sensor, the priestess bathed them in the smoke of the incense and spoke over them again, and then with no further ceremony, they were guided from the temple's inner sanctum. 

The atmosphere of ritual died away as they moved back into the castle proper, and finally, Leo spoke again as Niles dragged his arm across his face to clean himself up a bit.

"Are you... alright?" Niles turned to look at him while they walked. 

"Well, yes. Should I not be?" 

"I've always heard you were just to sip at the draught... No one just... guzzles it like that." Leo admitted after a few moments. 

"I didn't want to disappoint," Niles shot back, a bit ruffled. "Should I be worried?"

"You seem fine. Mostly." A hint of mischief in his lord's voice. Niles snickered to himself. 

"I can provide a list of things that are in fact wrong with me at your earliest convenience-- but I take it that's not what you meant." He paused as they walked, the sputtering of a torch in its sconce the only nearby sound aside from their footsteps and conversation. 

"I don't have that kind of time, Niles. Besides. I wouldn't want you to change them. They are what make _us_ so... right." 

That left Niles in silence as he pondered what it meant-- and he slipped into the shadows of Leo's room before him, opening doors for him as he went. 

"I suppose now you're free to come and go as you please-- and we'll be looking into getting you your own dormitory. Each of us royal siblings has room in our apartments for a few retainers, after all." Niles nodded to each point, vaguely amused. 

"To keep up appearances, really." Though he left it open, hanging in the air. It was clear that he meant to challenge and test the idea that Niles still could very much choose to have a business-only relationship with him. 

"Hm. Then I should make it clear that I prefer the right-hand side of the bed." The former thief stated, a playful barb in his tone as he passed Leo and made for the bed in question. 

Leo laughed and followed him, the door falling shut behind him just as the chapter closed on his life of loneliness, drifting anchorless without direction or hands to hold. He found his place exactly where he wanted to be as he crawed up beside the Niles, a kindred soul to him more than any other royal could ever be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just an author's update: 
> 
> I adore writing in this setting, and I'm going to keep busting my butt whenever I can. However, updates might be slower from here on out because at the end of the month I'm going to start life in an intentional community (read: a modern-day commune) where internet is somewhat limited (until we build some more stuff on the land, basically). I'll still have plenty of time to write though, so after I settle in I'm sure I'll be back to regularly posting.


	4. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An epilogue in which Niles has come back into his own and they get to enjoy a honeymoon phase for the ages.

The creaking wooden plank floors stank of old alcohol, soaked through and splintered in some places. Sawdust was scattered here and there to aid in keeping the constant mess from seeping into the floors but did little aside from becoming foul-smelling sludge that caked to boots. Of course, in a pub like this one, few people noticed or cared. Being clean and orderly wasn't what you came to a place like this to do. The loud talking and shouting nearly completely drowned out the sound of someone shrieking and howling in pain. 

He was a ragged, scarecrow-like creature with stringy hair and beady eyes-- at least they probably would have been normally if they weren't bulging out of his head as he screamed. Another man, much more robust and younger stood with his hand on the hilt of a dagger, the blade embedded into the soft wood of the rough table as well as the other man's hand. 

Cloaked in navy blue that was a dye far too expensive for any common thief to wear, the man standing over his victim chortled and cooed, as though none of it was more than a minor inconvenience. 

"Sounds like it hurts an awful lot-- that is a _shame_. But-- not hardly as much of a shame as it will be when my lord finds out about your treachery and we make sure to take out our rage on your family members-- one by one. Oh yes, that's right-- we know about them and the cozy little home by the river." 

"N-n-no, no, no--! I'll talk, I'll take you there, whatever you want!" The man dissolved into a mess of tears and babbling, but here the outlaw had what he wanted. 

"Remember. Your promise is the lives of your babies. Don't try anything between now and our operation, understood?"

He pulled back suddenly, an unsettling ripping noise accompanying his withdrawal which allowed the unkempt man to pull back and cradle his bleeding hand to his chest. The fun was over, but the business was just as enjoyable. He flashed the man and the onlookers a winning smile and then got to his feet. He stepped onto the table rather than around it and grabbed the peasant man by the collar, dragging him along by the stitches of his cloak and aught more. 

Outside, he smiled at the feeling of the sun beating down on his face. A beautiful day to be alive, really. The whimpering and wailing at his feet was music to his ears. 

"Niles!" A familiar voice over the din, and the sound of several horses approaching. Behind was a drawn carriage, fortified to lessen the chance of escape. A near cherubic aura had settled over Niles, as he was here in his element doing exactly what he was meant to do. 

He handed over the informant to a few guards with a flourish and a bow as Leo and his steed trotted over. He raised up on his toes and took his lord's hand to press a reverent kiss to the back of it. 

"He sang like a bird, milord! And you are as darkly radiant as ever on this fine morning." 

"It's afternoon, Niles--" Leo chastized gently as he turned his attention to the guards accompanying him. He waved them off with a dismissive hand. "Take him away."

As they moved to obey, the prince extended his hand down to his retainer and pulled him up behind him on the horse. Niles settled in and leaned forward to whisper into Leo's ear as they trotted back up the path through town and towards the castle proper. 

"Riding back here always gives me such naughty ideas," He muttered. 

"Niles, everything gives you naughty ideas." Leo sang back, a giggle barely suppressed in his tone. 

"Right you are. Terrible, honestly aren't I?" He nipped at the prince's ear as they rode down the thoroughfare, no mind paid to any prying eyes on them at all. 

"The worst," Leo answered. 

Niles pressed in even closer as the horse cantered across the mighty stone bridge to the castle, their bantering and teasing continuing on even until they reached the stable and Niles slipped from the saddle to help Leo down to his feet. It was a quiet morning, and hardly anyone was around-- and so it was easy for Leo to grab Niles by the chin and still laughing command him: "On your knees, cur." 

The prince's retainer found himself smiling again as he gladly complied, the blissful expression of someone about to receive a holy sacrament unlike any other on his face-- rather than the look of a man on his knees for a master as he unfastened his fly in a dirty stable stall. Something about Niles really was quite unhinged, but that was what made him so very desirable to Leo. 

When they parted ways, Niles could still taste and feel Leo on his tongue-- just as he liked it. A wicked grin rested on his features as he passed into the castle and into the kitchens. He snagged a pastry and an apple on his way into the mess hall, ignoring the cooks' shouts and chastising as per usual. The castle's security force and most of the retainers took their meals here, and it usually had at least a handful of people hovering around, eating a quick meal before rushing back to their duty. 

He found a chair and kicked his feet up on one of the long tables, leaning back as he bit into a fruit jam-filled pastry. His carefully maintained cheerful visage was less a mask these days and more a careful filter. Beneath, in the dark, his pain and rage seethed endlessly. But next to Leo-- basking in the radiance of his liege's dark soul-- he couldn't feel that same kind of hopelessness any longer. He didn't care what he was to the man so long as he could stay by his side. It was a flagrant obsession beyond the ken of a more sound-of-mind person but for Niles, it simply was how he was. He couldn't have changed if he'd tried. 

And he remained there, balanced on the curve of one calf where it rested against the edge of the table (keeping his chair's front legs in the air) as he ate his sweets and pretended not to hear the hushed voices behind him. The youngest Nohrian royal's retainers were the annoying stuffy type, and he caught a few snippets of the blond man commenting about his unnatural relationship with lord Leo. 

Rather than getting angry, the purity of his own bliss only increased. He knew they could not be anything more than lord and retainer in the public eye-- but knowing that he belonged to Leo completely and that the naysayers around them were so hideously misinformed left him feeling smug. Niles finished his snacks and got to his feet with a spring in his step. 

He fixed poor Arthur in his sights, and the man went silent and still as a statue while Niles made his way across the room, whistling cheerfully. He slowed-- but did not stop as he passed the man and the tall woman with pale hair he was sitting with. Niles simply patted the man on the shoulder and gave him a sugary sweet smile laced with venom with no other explanation. Better to leave him guessing. Really, he hoped that he remembered that people who spoke poorly about Lord Leo were known for disappearing rather quickly these days... 

Leo moved down the hall at a brisk pace, more than a little glad to put yet another war council behind him. He had less and less of a taste for it as of late, and that damned Iago leered at him for it, as though it somehow made him lesser as a tactician and dark mage. He had it coming. One day, he might just snap--

He was interrupted as he came around the corner to a bit of a loud ruckus. The sound of a man's voice thundered down the hallway as Leo approached, drawn in by all of the shouting. 

What he found was Niles although cornered, standing calmly and smiling sweetly being shouted at and accused of besmirching someone's honor. --Was that Elise's retainer? Leo pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath before intervening. 

"What _is_ going on here?" He demanded, even though it was clear that he knew exactly what it was. 

"This... this... this man of ill repute is sullying the honor of the Nohr by his mere presence!" Whatever Arthur went on to complain about went in one ear and out the other as he found himself quite focused on Niles making eyes at him, licking his lips-- the usual. 

Eventually, he rolled his eyes and pushed past Arthur to retrieve his partner. "Aye, yes, he's a terrible cutpurse and he's my retainer. Now, if you would spare me your moralizing and go attend to your lady-- good day," He brushed past with Niles in tow.

Already, he couldn't count the number of times he'd extracted Niles from a situation like this. It seemed that ever since they'd gotten over the slope of 'figuring each other out' that the former thief was happy to act as shamelessly as he may-- so long as it didn't truly negatively effect Leo. And Leo gladly accepted him just as he was, even if it was occasionally tiresome. 

"Am I in trouble, Lord Leo?" Niles asked pleasantly as they walked. Leo's grip on his cloak had shifted down to his arm, to his wrist-- finally, to his hand that he now held as he made the familiar return to his quarters. 

"Oh, not any more than usual, Niles." Leo hummed in return. 

It was nearly routine now, but that did not mean that Leo enjoyed it any less. Their advantageous partnership had certainly shaken up the social network of the castle's staff. Suddenly, the near shut-in prince had a near constant companion, and some people recognized him as a very much-so wanted thief. Some even said that he was for all intents and purposes, the premier leader of the outlaws that operated in the castle town, though that remained a rumor. He and Leo both found that one terribly amusing as it was in fact, more or less true--

Niles opened the door for his lord and in a set of practiced motions took his cape for him, helping him dress down into something more comfortable without a second thought. 

"Though really, you're going to have to stop egging on Arthur so much. He might really end up challenging you to a duel or some such nonsense someday. Then what will you do?" Leo teased. 

"Fight him," Niles replied with a shrug. 

Though the subject matter was somewhat serious, they both found themselves laughing. 

Leo passed Niles and wandered over to the wall of plants that he kept, where they stretched for the bank of high windows in his room much as he had once before-- seeking freedom. Seeking nourishment and understanding. 

He idly passed his fingertips over the leaves, thinking of how easily and quickly life could change. Leo turned to find Niles watching him like he hung the moon and stars-- the devotion in his eyes something so raw that Leo often shied away from it. 

"Then fight him you shall, for I would not have you be anything other than yourself. Not now, not ever. You say that I saved you... but you are the one who saved me, Niles." 

Niles hoped in that moment that nothing would ever change: that they would go on like this with their unspoken love affair for as long as forever. There was no way either of them could know what the future held, or how completely things could change yet again in just the span of a year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a short epilogue to bring this part of the story to a close. I'm working on a direct sequel that will pick up once they are introduced to Odin Dark-- and moving towards that happy polyamory bliss that I myself am so fond of. I decided to split them up so that if that's not your thang you can just enjoy this story on its own. 
> 
> My hiatus-until-settled starts around the 30th, so I'll try to pump out a couple of the side chapters for this and hopefully the first one for part two before then if I'm lucky. Thanks for all of the kudos!

**Author's Note:**

> Next chapter is already partially done, and it is nearly time to face Garon's punishment. :')


End file.
